REVIEW: Doctor Who – Power of the Heart

Fan Fiction is a tricky thing. It’s most often misunderstood. Sometimes it’s someones way of learning how to write stories, other times it’s a way of exploring avenues not seen in films and television shows. Of course, then there is fan fiction which is not only bad, but extremely bad. That’s not to cast them out completely and think of them as being a waste of time. But like all things, if its going to be done, it has to be done right.
Which is what brings me to the a fan fiction series that is being developed by two fans of Doctor Who. Readers of previous posts will know all about the Doctor Who: Power of the Heart series. It’s a project that is made up of fan fiction, art and other means which all tie into the project. This first of all completely sets the series apart from the standard nature of fan fiction. It’s not just one story. It’s a collection of stories that are all tied together to form a continued narrative.
The biggest bonus that this series has is the creators. Emma L. & James G. are most importantly Doctor Who fans. Even more importantly is the fact that they pay attention to continuity. The series tells the tale of the Tenth Doctor and a new unique companion in Maddie Ramos. With Fan fiction, it’s incredibly important to stay true to the character. Writing a character like the Doctor is a challenge even more in itself because the character has been portrayed by so many different actors who have each contributed their own personality traits of the character. Using David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor is also a challenge because of the high regard held for him in the eyes of many fans of Doctor Who. Tennant is mostly seen as the actor who helped secure the show’s potential after Eccleston departed at the end of the first series. So everyone looks at him in a slightly different way. The character is vastly different from the mad professor of Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor and thankfully both writers have kept that in mind and managed to write him in a believable way.
The series is made up of individual stories that are each broken down into smaller parts. The benefit of this is that the series feels more closer to the original classic Doctor Who format of individual parts forming a Doctor Who story. At the moment they are only on the second storyline and they hope to publish more. It would be incredibly easy to dismiss their series due to the shotgun style of publishing the stories. However instead, when read the stories have an incredibly finished and quality feel to them that I doubt would have been there if they had been released before ready. The Stories may not be released always on time, but when they are released it’s good to know that the authors have taken the time to make sure its ready and you’re incredibly likely to enjoy the story rather than end up thinking “did they even bother?”
So, to sum it all up. Should Doctor Who fans read it? The answer to that one is as unique as the story itself. It isn’t for everyone. The series biggest benefit is towards those who enjoy Doctor Who as it is. The story of a Time Lord journeying time and space. The series is aimed at the fans who watch the tv series and don’t take it seriously. Those who can look over planets being moved, a bunch of statues being the most scary thing in all of time and space and a load of genocidal pepperpots who can only say one word at a time.
if anything at all, I would recommend that the series is at least worth a go. like many things, it deserves the chance to be held up with the works of Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat. If it gets there that’s for the authors to attempt and the readers to decide. This is the appeal of Doctor Who, anything is possible and nothing is impossible.

If anyone would like to read the stories for themselves. Then they can be read at this website.